Chapter 39: Spartan Assault

A young man in sharp sunglasses emerged from one of Tokyo's many bus stations under grey and moody skies. With his large pack over one shoulder, army style pants, combat boots, and simple t-shirt revealing toned muscles, it would be clear to anyone paying attention he was a martial artist. He smiled a cold smile, revenge would soon be his.

"Hey pal," he said to a salaryman walking past. "I'm looking for someone at the Oozora Group's headquarters. Any idea where that might be?"

"Don't know, don't care," the man said, continuing on his way.

The martial artist sneered at the rude fellow as he left, before turning to a woman nearby. "Hello there miss, I was-"

"Don't bother me, I've got a hair appointment."

He watched as she hurried off, not paying him a second glance. City people, always so busy. Then he noticed an old woman not far away. She'd probably be more patient.

"Excuse me there ma'am-"

"Beat it punk! I've got places to be!" the woman shouted waving her cane at him menacingly.

Scrambling out of her way, the young martial artist felt it begin to rain. Just his luck.

Hibari and Ranma were sitting quietly at a booth in a small cafe, waiting for the rain to end. At least the milkshake they were sharing was good. Due to their boredom the quiet jingle of the bell over the entrance drew their attention.

"Phew, coming down like cats and dogs out there," the sunglasses and combat chic wearing boy declared. He was dripping slightly from the rain.

Hibari and Ranma both went back to their discussion about portable music players, seeing no reason to pay any more attention to the new arrival. At least until he decided to sit across from them in the booth.

"Such cute girls, I really picked the right place to get out of the rain."

The two glared at him.

"There's plenty a' other booths, buddy," Ranma grumbled.

"This one has the best view though," the guy replied.

"I don't know, from where we're sitting it suddenly has the worst view," Hibari countered.

"Such feisty gals. Just my type."

"You wanna fight, pal?" Ranma asked, ready to pounce across the table.

"I did come to Tokyo for one, but not with anyone as lovely as yourselves."

"C'mon Ranma, let's just go. The rain's not too bad anymore," Hibari said, pulling her short date away.

As they reached the door the rude stranger shouted after them. "You girls wouldn't happen to know where I could find the Oozora group headquarters, would you? There's a guy there I'm looking to get some revenge on."

"Not another one," Ranma sighed quietly.

"Nope, never heard of it," Hibari replied, before laughing and pulling Ranma out into the rain.

As they left earshot of the building, Ranma couldn't help but voice a question. "Why'd ya lie ta that guy? If he found out who I am I'd get ta beat the snot outta him."

"We've got places to be. Let him wander around the city a while longer and get even more frustrated."

"Fine, I'll beat him up the same whenever he does find the place, I guess... still, wish it hadn't been raining t'day," Ranma said, not able to hide the annoyed tone.

Hibari stopped and turned to her cute partner. "Oh? And why not?"

"Well, I said I wuz gonna be yer boyfriend for today. But instead I'm in girl mode and we had a gross dude flirt with both of us..."

"How does being in cursed form stop you from being my boyfriend?" Hibari asked.

"How? 'Cause I'm a girl right now," Ranma protested.

Hibari leaned down and looked Ranma right in the eyes. "I'm a blonde right now. Seiji spilled some tea on me this morning. I'm still your girlfriend though... right?"

"Er, well, yeah. Yer always a girl," Ranma replied nervously.

"And you're who you are. You might be a little short, and extra baby faced, but you're my boyfriend."

Ranma put on an almost comically large grin. "Thanks."

Ranma then held an elbow out for Hibari to take. Happy to fall into the feminine role whenever she could, Hibari placed her hands around Ranma's offered elbow. They both knew they'd get some odd looks, but Ranma didn't typically care what others thought when in cursed mode and Hibari didn't care if it meant Ranma being romantic.

Ranma was a bit stunned by the sheer amount and variety of stuff in the electronics store. TVs, some of which seemed impractically large. Segas and Famicoms. Laserdisc, Betamax, and VHS players. Walkmans and discmans. And video cameras, with one hooked up to display what it recorded onto the TVs.

Curious, Ranma went over to camera and began to pose in front of it, glancing up to see the TVs projecting images of a very cute redhead doing rather masculine flexing.

"Whaddya know, I'm on TV," Ranma said, grinning happily to Hibari.

"Now that's a show I'd watch," Hibari replied, laughing a bit.

"Oh, Oozora. It's good to see you. My sales numbers are a little low this month," a young sales attendant, maybe a year or two older than them, said as she walked over to the pair.

Ranma tried not to blush too much upon noticing how cute the blonde saleswoman was. And how her outfit did a good job highlighting some very nice legs. Maybe not quite as nice of those of the blonde Ranma had walked in with though.

"Hey, Ibuki! I'm glad you're working today. My friend here is still very new to all things electronic. You can probably do a better job explaining some things than me. Just don't go too sales pitch," Hibari replied.

"Don't worry Hibari. I'd never oversell to a friend of yours. If you changed stores because of me I'd be fired for sure," the slightly older blonde replied, laughing a bit. "Plus she's very cute. A pleasure to meet you, miss...?"

"Ranma," the redhead replied. "I'm taken though, sorry."

"Ah, what a shame," the attendant said. "How about you Oozora? Still going boys only, no matter how I try?"

"Actually," Hibari began, as she put an arm over Ranma's shoulder, "I'm a little more flexible these days, but I'm taken too."

"I knew you weren't part of the straight and narrow. And now I see you've got great taste too," Ibuki laughed. "So, what were you looking for today?"

"A walkman," Ranma replied.

"Or a discman, if the anti-skipping tech's improved enough lately," Hibari added.

"You as big on martial arts as Hibari is, Ranma?"

"Bigger. I've been trainin' her."

"Then a walkman is probably the better choice. Discmans are getting better for joggers, but jumping around like you guys do would be too much for it. Come on, I'll show you our options," the girl replied.

Hibari was running through a kata in the dojo, as per her usual morning practice, when she realised Ranma wasn't giving input. Glancing over, she realised that the red haired cutie was hard at work trying to paint her nails. Hibari paused a moment, quietly watching Ranma, whose tongue was sticking out in concentration.

Smirking, Hibari carefully made her way over to Ranma. She wanted to get as close as she could before the redhead noticed her. Feeling she'd reached the limit, Hibari studied the colour Ranma had chosen.

"Ooh, that's a very nice robin egg blue."

Ranma looked up and gave a slightly guilty smile. "Tsugumi said it would fit my colours well."

"It does. She's great with colour theory... so, I'll guess today is definitely a girl day then?"

"Well, at least right now is," Ranma replied with a shrug.

"I think I'm starting to pick up on how your body language chan-" Hibari began, only to be cut off by the sound of an explosion.

"That was the front gate!" Ranma said as she hopped to her feet and scrambled to see what had happened.

Hibari wasn't far behind, running through the halls of the Oozora home. Most of the guards were headed that way too, though they spotted Genma running towards a koi pond muttering something about his old master. Ranma dismissed that and kept moving.

Gathering with Ibari and the assorted thugs, both girls were annoyed to see the jerk from the day before standing out in the street, a smug expression on his face and another old fashioned bomb in his hand.

"Who do you think you are, challenging the Oozora Group, kid?" Ibari asked, doing his best to maintain a calm and cold tone.

"A servant of vengeance," the boy declared theatrically. "I'm here to avenge my father's honour in a battle of martial arts!"

"You could have knocked," Ibari muttered. "But, whatever. Seiji, go get Saotome and make sure he isn't a panda. And you, kid, as long as you stop throwing bombs around you can come in and discuss your grievances. "

"Yeah, alright. I'm going to need eat and rest a bit anyway. I was wandering around all night trying to find the place," the lad grumbled.

Hibari and Ranma decided to slip to a more hidden position and quietly watch the goings on. They both wanted to know what it was that had this guy so ticked (probably something Genma had done), but didn't want to get spotted and flirted with.

Ibari, Sabu, and the stranger were walking along the open air hallway along the courtyard when Seiji showed up with a familiar panda.

"S-sorry sir, still waitin' on the kettle," the large thug explained.

"Fine, it'll be ready soon enough," Ibari muttered. "Anyway, kid, just to get it out of the way: which Saotome are you here to fight? Ranma or Genma?"

"Who-ma? Saotomes?" the pointy sunglasses wearing teen asked.

"You're not here for a Saotome?" Ibari replied. "Then why are you here?"

The teen hopped over into the courtyard to have room to take up a dramatic pose. "I am Sparta Kotatsu, son of the Spartan Dragon! I'm here to take vengeance on that crossdressing weirdo, Oozora Hibari!"

"Who are you calling a 'crossdressing weirdo'?" Hibari asked, sauntering over from her hiding spot and glaring at him.

"Huh? Y-you? What're you doing here, miss?" Kotatsu blurted as Hibari approached.

"I live here," Hibari replied.

"Ah man, what a shame. A cute girl like you having to deal with a weirdo brother."

"That is Hibari," Ibari stated flatly.

"Wuh?" Kotatsu asked, turning to see nods from Seiji, Sabu, and the panda. Glancing over at Hibari, she gave him a cocky grin and eyebrow wiggle, and Ranma not far behind giving a confirming shrug. "I...I... b-but..."

The younger Sparta took a couple steps back in fear, only to trip on a lining rock for the koi pond and tumbling backwards into it with a splash.

"Huh, I thought it was just the curse that made me an' pops fall in there all the time," Ranma muttered. "I guess it just likes martial artists in general."

Kotatsu had been allowed to set up a bed roll in the dojo, and was currently passed out and snoring. Ibari had decided they'd give him a day to rest and eat, wanting Kotatsu in peak form.

The living room however was quite noisy right now, with Hibari not liking this deal at all and making her complaints vocal.

"Why do I have to fight him?" Hibari complained. "And why are we feeding him?"

"He gave ya an official letter of challenge," Ranma replied, wearing the proud smile she'd been wearing since Hibari received the letter. "That means yer honour bound ta fight him. And yer dad's feed him 'cause he's not on your side. But that just means you'll get a better fight outta this."

Hibari crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch, thoroughly unimpressed by this whole affair. "Our lunch break is short enough as it is. There's better things to do with it."

"I thought ya liked fightin'?" Ranma asked, honestly confused.

"It's a fun adrenaline rush in the moment, but having to schedule around an official challenge is... bleh. That takes the fun out of it," Hibari replied.

"Well life ain't all fun."

Hibari's face shifted into a mischievous smile as she leaned towards Ranma. "Maybe not... but we could still head up to our bedrooms to have a little fun right now if you'd like."

Ranma blushed furiously in response. "Hey! Th-that's not the sorta thing we should be doin' right now. You should be trainin'. C'mon, let's get goin'!"

Hibari giggled as she followed the shorter girl off to train. It was so easy to mess with Ranma.

By afternoon Kotatsu had woken and was running through practice of his own. He was working on some kicking practices when Ibari and Genma entered the dojo, watching him quietly for a bit.

"You guys just come to watch? Or have you got something to say?" Kotatsu asked as he stopped his practice.

"We'd like to see if you're any good," Ibari replied.

"You seem like a determined young man, and I respect that," Genma added. "I'd like to see if I can give any pointers."

Kotatsu gave the men a smirk. "Sure, a practice round should help me loosen up."

He and Genma moved to the centre of the dojo and bowed. Both took up fighting stances and waited a moment, studying the other's form. As he was planning some instruction, Genma decided to open with a testing jab that the younger Sparta blocked easily. Kotatsu gave a testing counter that was likewise easily blocked.

Smiling, Genma decided it was time to push the kid and launched a rapid series of punches. Kotatsu blocked more than he dodged, doing his best to push into the attack until he could shoot out a hand and grab hold of Genma's gi.

Pulling on the fabric, Kotatsu yanked Genma forward from his stance while moving in for a knee to the gut. Genma winced at the collision as Ibari called the round.

"So, power over speed, and a focus on grappling," Genma noted as he stepped back.

"Get in close to the enemy and hit him hard. Our school builds on its Pankration roots," Kotatsu replied. "Once we've got a hold on our foe we don't let go."

Genma nodded. "That should be good. Ibari's boy is too focused on being light and quick. Get a hold of him and it'll be over. Just be ready, he is very fast. And try to rotate your blocks more."

Dinner was an absolute disaster as Kotatsu battled with the Saotomes over food. The Oozoras found themselves practically chased from the table, only Hibari holding her ground and playing defensively to get a more human portion of food than the others were after.

"Well, time to get back to training," Kotatsu announced, annoyed that he'd gotten rather less to eat than he'd have liked. "Remember, tomorrow at noon, girly boy."

"Did you hear that Ranma? He wants to fight you instead," Hibari said, poking her fiancée in the cheek.

"I'd love ta wipe the smile off his face, but I'm pretty sure he's still challengin' you. He just doesn't get it."

"Yes, I'm still challenging Oozora! Though I would prefer if you stopped lounging about in that overly cute girl form of yours, Saotome!" Kotatsu shouted.

"Meh, I don't feel like changin' today. Thanks fer callin' me cute though," Ranma replied with some batted eyelashes.

Gritting his teeth hard enough that veins became visible on his forehead, Kotatsu stormed off back to the dojo. Genma showed similar annoyance.

Ranma agreed with Hibari's idea to leave early for school and avoid the battle already erupting around the breakfast table between Genma and Kotatsu. The pair ran along fences and rooftops to swing by the Neko Hanten on their way to school. Shampoo was more than happy to cook up some breakfast for the two of them.

Arriving at school, the trio, with Ranma and Shui both in male form and Hibari once more a redhead, were surprised to see Sparta waiting at the gates.

"Oozora, you'd better not be planning to run off. I'll be waiting for you at the temple down the road come lunch," Kotatsu sneered.

"She'll be there, don't worry pal," Ranma replied, while Hibari just glared.

"And who are you bud-w-wait, that braid, the Chinese clothing, and that nail polish... Y-you're Saotome?" Sparta muttered, struggling to fit the guy in front of him together with the redhead from yesterday.

"Nail polish? Whaddya mean-" Ranma paused and looked down as his fingers. "Gah! That stuff's still there?"

"It does tend to stay for a few days. Longer with a good topcoat," Hibari explained.

Ranma yanked his backpack open and produced a water bottle to pour on himself. Now female again, she calmed down a little. "Eesh, that coulda been embarassin'."

Kotatsu stared in horror, pressing his back against the gate. "Don't do that!"

"Ranma still has problem with being girly in boy mode?" Shui whispered to Hibari.

"I guess so. Got to keep working on that," Hibari replied.

"What're you two whisperin' about?" Ranma asked.

"Don't worry your cute little butt about it," Hibari said, patting the shorter teen on the head.

"Stop ignoring me, you perverts!" Kotatsu shouted. "It's not a good idea to ignore Sparta Kotatsu!"

"Sparta? That is a weird name," Shui said. "Not sound very Japanese."

"It's Greek," Kotatsu snapped back. "The Spartans were the greatest warriors of the ancient Greek world!"

"I thought that was the Amazons?" Shui asked.

"The Amazons were mythical," Kotatsu grumbled. "I...bah! Just come to the temple at noon!"

Sparta stormed off, leaving the others to head to class.

Ranma spent much of the morning shuffling notes on strategy to Hibari, who replied with notes of the teacher's lessons, trying to get Ranma to stop worrying.

When the lunch bell rang Hibari told Ranma to go ahead, and that she just need to change into something more appropriate for the fight. Shui gave her word that she'd make sure Hibari went. Ranma accepted begrudgingly and began hurrying off towards the temple, when a voice called out.

"Ran-chan, can I talk to you a moment?" Ukyo asked, rushing after the shorter teen.

"It'd better be an apology," Ranma replied, not bothering to turn around. "And it's taken ya long enough."

"I'm sorry about that. You and Oozora were running around working on the play rehearsals. And Rie wasn't sho-er... no, no excuses. It wasn't a good move. And neither was what I did at the beach," Ukyo explained, hurrying along the road after Ranma.

"Understatement a' the decade there Ucchan."

"I could tell you a story about abandonment and confusing hormones, and a dozen other things, but... I know that doesn't matter. What matters is if I can do anything to make it up to you," Ukyo replied, biting the humility bullet and hoping it would work.

Ranma stopped and turned towards her friend, but couldn't quite meet the chef's eyes.

"I don't know Ucchan. I just... I don't know if I can feel ready ta trust ya again any time soon," Ranma replied softly.

Ukyo nodded just enough to be perceptible. "I guess that's fair."

"All I can say is: try talkin' ta Shampoo. I mean, somehow I kinda trust her after all the nonsense she's pulled," Ranma replied. "Might just mean it needs a bit more time."

Having somewhere to be, Ranma waved to Ukyo before hurrying off again. It was a quick run up the stairway to reach the small Shinto temple. Kotatsu was doing some stretches while he waited near the main building.

"Don't tell me Oozora's chickened out?" Kotatsu asked.

"She's coming. She just wanted to get changed inta somethin' more appropriate for fightin'. Got a friend I can trust makin' sure," Ranma replied, walking over to a sit down on a rock nearby. Ranma could feel Kotatsu's eyes the whole time. "Could ya stop starin' like that?"

"It's just not right. A hot babe shouldn't really be a guy," Kotatsu muttered.

"I ain't 'really a guy'. I'm me. Sometimes that means I'm a guy. Sometimes it means I'm a girl. I'm just sorta new ta the second part," Ranma countered angrily.

Kotatsu gave a dismissive 'feh' and went back to warming up.

As Ranma waited, she began to wonder what was taking Hibari. There was only so much glaring at Sparta she could do before it got annoying to be alone in his presence.

"I don't think he's coming," Kotatsu declared confidently, just as it began to lightly rain.

Ranma was ready to snap at him when they heard the gentle clacks of wooden shoes against stone stairs from the entrance way. Appearing over the hill in a blue furisode was Hibari, her hair was done up and she had a purple traditional paper umbrella in her hand. Shui was a step or two behind her. Considering the complexity of the outfit, Ranma was actually surprised Hibari had made it in so little time.

"What the heck are you wearing, buddy?" Sparta asked, outraged to have his challenge answered in such an over the top manner.

"Your challenge was very traditional. So I thought I'd dress appropriately," Hibari replied.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll get my revenge for you giving my old man a nervous breakdown whatever you wear," Kotatsu shouted.

"A nervous breakdown? Ya didn't bring that up before," Ranma said.

"The results were too shameful to bring up before respectable men," Sparta muttered. "Thinking womens underwear somehow holds power..."

Ranma and Hibari both made disgusted faces. That sounded a bit like someone else they knew of...

"But that's why I need to win this!" Kotatsu shouted. "Let's fight!"

With that, Kotatsu leapt into the air, preparing a flying kick. Hibari replied with a leap of her own, closing the umbrella and swinging it like a sword to smack into Kotatsu's face and knocking his sunglasses clear off.

His trajectory thrown off, Kotatsu had a somewhat shaky landing not far from the stairs, where he saw Shui smirking at him. He glared back, using the signature small eyed glare of the Sparta clan (now that his sunglasses had been knocked off), though it had minimal effect on Shui.

Hibari's landing was more graceful, seeing her return to earth not far from an annoyed Ranma.

"What was that?" Ranma asked the taller redhead. "You should be representin' our school, not pullin' out Ryoga's tactics!"

"What's the school's name again?" Hibari asked, taking an over the top pose of innocent reflection.

Ranma let out a defeated sigh. "Anything Goes."

"Mhm. You told me to steal from any martial art I can, and Ryoga's umbrella-do is fun," Hibari replied with a wink.

"Quit your gabbing and get back into this fight!" Kotatsu shouted as he charged over, sticking to a ground assault this time.

Hibari lightly jogged to meet him, the umbrella ready like a lance. When they reached striking distance, Hibari thrust the umbrella forward in a jab. Kotatsu dodged, unimpressed; at least until the umbrella popped open with the inertia and his field of view was suddenly nothing but purple. A moment of awkward flailing knocked the umbrella out of his way, but he was rewarded by Hibari's fist colliding with his face. A flurry of blows at near amaguriken speeds then collided with his torso.

Stumbling back, Kotatsu was surprised by the cocky grin on Hibari's face. Despite having complained about the formality of it all, now that there was actually a fight she was enjoying herself.

Kotatsu slid into a defensive pose and gave Hibari a Bruce Lee style beckon. Hibari nodded and launched in for another volley. This time, with no umbrella to distract him, Kotatsu was prepared. He managed side step (if just barely) and grabbed a hold of Hibari's flowing sleeve. The redhead struggled to pull out of his grip, but Kotatsu held the fabric firmly and slammed into her with a number of gut punches from his free hand.

Hibari winced at the pain, but used her own free hand to undo the knot on her obi. Kotatsu wondered why she did that, rather than strike back, when suddenly the fabric he was holding when slack. Hibari effectively leapt from the furisode, revealing an under outfit of a gymnastic leotard as she landed beside Ranma.

Between the tight spandex showing her small, but currently inarguably feminine, chest and way it revealed the full extent of Hibari's long legs, Kotatsu couldn't help blushing. That was it. He couldn't take it anymore.

"O-Oozora! Saotome! I... gah! It's not fair. You're both too cute! Let's let bygones be bygones and I'll take you both on a date. I don't care that you're really guys," Kotatsu announced, tossing the furisode to one side and dropping onto his knees.

For his trouble Sparta received three elbows to the head from all three people around him before Ranma and Hibari grabbed him by the shirt and tossed him into a nearby building, where he became embedded in the wall.

"I'm a girl!" Hibari hissed.

"And we've already turned ya down!" Ranma added, shaking a fist for good measure. "Ya'd better not bug us again!"